Chapter 72
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 72
“Huh? Dark Mana Stones?”
As Kiriel asked blankly, Beatrice gave a slight nod.
“Yes. The Eredor Disciplinary Committee has currently recovered over eighty percent of the estimated Dark Mana Stones scattered throughout our territory.”
Beatrice shot me a brief glare before continuing.
“...I’m reluctant to admit it, but thanks to Roen’s help, the previously sluggish recovery efforts have picked up speed. At this rate, it seems we’ll be able to recover most of them soon. How are the rest of you faring?”
In response to Beatrice’s question, Elena answered with a gentle smile.
“Hehe, we at Seintea have also formed a dedicated recovery team to search our territory. Most of our students use divine power, so they’re quite adept at detecting demonic energy. It’s proceeding smoothly. By the way, Roen? Did you only help Beatrice?”
Seeing Elena ask as if questioning my special treatment, I shrugged.
“...It just ended up that way. But there was a good reason for it.”
I pointed to the map of the Union hanging on the wall of the Student Council President’s office.
“The incident occurred near Eredor territory, so the concentration of Dark Mana Stones is highest there. It was the most dangerous area.”
The cause of the spreading Dark Mana Stones was the high-ranking demon attack during my inauguration ceremony. Since the Grand Auditorium, where the incident took place, was closest to Eredor, it had the highest distribution of the stones.
Still… it’s a relief that the information I gave her was effective.
The fact that Beatrice was using my information to smoothly recover the mana stones was, in a way, good news.
The main quest linked to the Dark Mana Stones was [Mark of Obsession].
Originally, it wasn't supposed to start with a demon attack on the auditorium. In the game, there was no event where Roen was attacked by a high-ranking demon during his inauguration speech.
In the game, it started more like a mystery. The Dark Mana Stones spread throughout the Union via an unknown route, accompanied only by strange rumors.
But the developments following the inciting incident hadn't strayed far from the main quest. Fewer variables meant fewer risks in deciding my next move. I hoped things would continue on this path.
As I was lost in thought, Freya spoke up.
“We at Ishtal are searching suspicious areas, centered around Jeremy’s Disciplinary Committee. There have been a total of four reported discoveries of Dark Mana Stones. All have been recovered without issue and are being stored in the armory.”
So they’re in storage.
I’d have to make a deal with Freya later to get my hands on those Dark Mana Stones. They were an essential material for hatching Kabeltar’s egg.
I also needed to come up with an excuse that wouldn't arouse suspicion. Even if the Student Council was nominally the headquarters overseeing each academy's recovery efforts, they wouldn't easily hand over something as hazardous as Dark Mana Stones.
“How are things on your end, Kiriel?”
At my question, Kiriel hastily turned away, avoiding my gaze and staring off into the distance.
“Uh, um, of course it’s going well. Don’t you worry~”
Her reaction was highly suspicious, so I pressed her.
“Are you sure it’s going well?”
“O-Of course! It’s going so smoothly that someone like you doesn’t need to worry about it at all!”
“...I’ll pray that’s the case.”
I stopped my questioning there. Kiriel wasn't very reliable, but I knew her aides were quite diligent. They would probably handle it properly.
And if things went south, I could always go to Voltimir and recover the stones myself. Actually, that would be safer, since I could obtain the Dark Mana Stones directly without them passing through anyone else's hands. I was running low on mana stones to feed Kabeltar anyway.
Hearing Kiriel’s suspicious answer, Beatrice spoke with a stern expression.
“The longer the recovery of the mana stones is delayed, the greater the difficulty and danger becomes. The surrounding vegetation could become contaminated, leading to the demonification of the land, and animals that come into contact with them could turn into monsters. In the worst-case scenario, students could be exposed and undergo demonization.”
“R-Right… I know it’s super dangerous.”
“This is a matter directly related to the safety of our students. It must be resolved with the highest priority, so please cooperate with the faculty to handle it quickly.”
“Alright, I trust you’ll all handle it well. Next.”
I moved on to the final agenda item.
“I have something to discuss regarding the Union’s academic performance evaluation.”
“Performance evaluation?”
“That’s right. Ciel.”
“Yes.”
At my call, Ciel distributed copies of the Union’s legal code, which contained various school regulations, to everyone. While they reviewed the documents, I continued my explanation.
“The current school regulations stipulate a maximum percentage for each grade, but not a minimum. It only states that there must be students who can achieve the maximum percentage for a grade.”
Simply put, while the maximum percentage of students who could receive an A-grade was set at 25 percent, there was no minimum. It only said that there had to be at least one student receiving an A-grade among those enrolled.
It was this loophole in the regulations that allowed for the situation in the basic swordsmanship class. For a professor to arbitrarily change the grade distribution and limit the number of A-grades to a single student—it was an unparalleled act of tyranny.
Even if I were to kick out Professor Zimmer right now, someone else could exploit this to pressure me again. To maintain a peaceful tenure as Student Council President, this regulation had to be amended.
“So? You want to change the minimum percentage for each grade?” Kiriel asked, her eyes narrowing.
I nodded.
“Correct. The current regulation is unreasonable, to say the least. If this meeting passes the amendment, it will be sent to the faculty meeting with the Chairman’s seal of approval. And so far, no motion approved by the Student Council has ever been rejected by the faculty.”
Meaning, if it passed here, it would go through without a hitch.
“What do you say? Do you agree?”
To my proposal, Kiriel shot back a sharp refusal.
“I refuse!”
“Why? If the distribution is improved, you might be able to get better grades than you do now.”
“I don’t know about that, but if this passes, it’ll be easier for you to keep your position as Student Council President. You think I can’t see your motive? I’m against it!”
Kiriel spoke with her hands planted firmly on her hips, as if she had seen right through my intentions. It seemed even she could figure this much out.
“...You’re not as dumb as I thought.”
“Hey, watch your mouth!”
I ignored Kiriel, whose ears had perked up, and asked for the others’ opinions. It was easier to get the other presidents’ consent than to persuade Kiriel.
“Freya, what do you think?”
“...While I share Miss Kiriel’s sentiment, I agree with improving the school regulations. Other students shouldn’t have to suffer because of a professor’s tyranny.”
As one of the parties involved in the recent incident, Freya seemed to have decided to cooperate with me.
“Good. Elena, what about you?”
“It doesn’t really matter to me either way~”
Shrugging as if she had little interest, Elena looked at me and smiled brightly.
“But if it helps you continue as the Student Council President, Roen, then I’ll agree.”
At Elena’s favorable comment, Kiriel was taken aback and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“What? Elena, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? What’s with the change of heart?”
“What do you mean? I don’t hold any particular grudge against him. And Roen hasn’t committed any misdeeds since becoming president. In fact, he’s done good things. If he keeps this up, there’s no harm in him keeping his position, is there?”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
“Thank you, Elena. Lastly, Beatrice, what do you think?”
With two out of four already in agreement, Beatrice’s consent would pass the motion. After a moment of thought, Beatrice opened her mouth.
“Well… there’s no harm in it, I suppose. As long as we only stipulate a minimum for the grade distribution, without diminishing the discerning power of the evaluations.”
“For example?”
“We could stipulate that an A-grade must be given to at least five percent of the students enrolled.”
“...Isn’t that a bit stingy?”
Five percent? That was practically the standard for a top-tier score on a national exam. When I voiced my complaint, Beatrice frowned.
“What, did you expect to get grades for free? And this is just the minimum. Anything above that is left to the professor’s discretion. This is an appropriate minimum percentage.”
“I understand.”
Although I was a little dissatisfied with the percentage, I was grateful that Beatrice had agreed at all. Besides, as she said, it was just a minimum, so not many professors would grade so strictly.
And so, with three votes in favor and one against, the amendment to set a minimum percentage for each grade was passed.
*
“So, you’ve come to receive my approval on this matter.”
“That is correct.”
In the Union Chairman’s office.
The jovial, round-faced old man, a sight I had become all too familiar with, slowly nodded his head.
“Excellent. Come to think of it, it’s strange that we haven’t had a rule like this until now. Stipulating a minimum percentage for each grade is certainly necessary. I will sign it and pass it on to the faculty meeting.”
“Do you think it will pass?”
“Yes, I don’t see why it wouldn’t. Not only has a motion passed by the Student Council never been rejected by the faculty, but there have also been very few professors who have regulated grade cutoffs to an unnecessary degree.”
That was true. Zimmer restricting A-grades to a single student was an exceptional case; most professors adjusted the percentage of A-grades within a reasonable range, from as low as 10 percent to as high as 25 percent. Since the newly stipulated minimum was only 5 percent, most professors wouldn't be affected by the rule.
“I don’t think you need to worry too much.”
The Chairman smiled broadly and continued.
“In any case, the recent rumors I’ve been hearing are good, Roen. It seems you’re doing well.”
“You’re too kind.”
“This is a small gift from me. I hope you’ll continue to work this hard in the future. Hahaha.”
Click.
The Chairman handed me an object packaged in a translucent box. It was an expensive-looking fountain pen, ivory-colored with gold decorations. It looked quite valuable, but I couldn't feel any special magic from it.
I ran a system-level analysis.
[Fountain Pen from the Chairman]
- Grade: Normal
- Type: Tool
- Effect: None. A small token of the Chairman’s sincerity. Looks expensive.
The system analysis didn't reveal anything special, so I simply accepted it with gratitude.
“Thank you. Also, I need your approval regarding the construction of the tram branch line…”
“Hmm, approval won’t be difficult, but do you happen to need financial support? Strictly speaking, this falls under the Union’s facility management, so if it proceeds well, you might be eligible for a project subsidy.”
A subsidy. If I could take the credit without spending my own money, all the better. I felt a bit like a corrupt politician embezzling tax money, but hey, what’s good is good.
“If it’s possible, I think it would be best to receive it.”
“Hmm, very well. I’ll see what I can do.”
He gave me a grin, lending me his support. The Chairman was truly something else. Contrary to his public image, he was quite competent. I gratefully accepted his favor.
*
Eredor.
Today’s Introduction to Intermediate Magic class was held not in a lecture hall, but in a laboratory attached to the annex of the Hall of Truth.
The students were gathered in small groups in the lab, which felt similar to a high school science room. Professor Martelzier stood at the front by the blackboard with her assistant and spoke in a voice that sounded strangely excited.
“Ohoho, alrighty~ I’ll now announce the results of the last pop quiz. And after that, we’ll be doing a simple experiment~ Please get into groups of four and take a seat at your tables~ You could call it ‘group lab work’~”